Down and Out in Republic City
by suchsmallthings
Summary: Hasook finds himself out of a job, with few prospects for the future. Unfortunately, he isn't even allowed the mercy of wallowing alone, whisked away instead by Tahno and his ever-intriguing "private lessons." Tahsook. M for safety
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Not enough Hasook/Tahno to be honest. I mean what's not to love? One's angry, one's fabulous, both are complete jerks...this is a little drabble where the two interact and I tried to make Hasook less...Hasook-y and Tahno slightly more...verbose. TECHNICALLY IT'S NOT OOC IF THE CHARACTERS HAVEN'T HAD ENOUGH SCREEN TIME TO ESTABLISH A CHARACTER IN THE FIRST PLACE or at least that's what I'm telling myself lol. Although the tahno rp on tumblr is absolutely on point. Also this is going out into the world with barely an edit to its name but its short! Also also: I like to think that Tahno's "private lessons" line is his all-purpose pick-up line that he just uses on everyone. I sort of want to do a drabble series where he just lays this line on like EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER. with varying degrees of sexual harrassment implied.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Tahno or Hasook or Korra or Avatar. They belong to other people. Successful people. People who've presumably actually _passed _exams at some point in time,** like** Bryke.  
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Hasook looked down at his hands, limp and calloused. He felt the weight of failure settle on him, familiar but no less painful, and knew he would carry it on his shoulders for no small amount of time. He had been afraid – he knew he was already on a short tether with the brothers – but when he was dismissed he felt his stomach drop from his body. It was not the worst news of the day, but that just made it all the more unbearable. Kihasa was moving with her family back to the tribes after her father's business had failed, and only just told him when he'd asked about all the moving carts in front of her house. Well, at least she didn't have to be around for _this._ _Kicked off the team by Mako, of all people. I don't have any money. I don't have anywhere to go. _

He was used to having nothing. He had no parents – not anymore. No home, and no job after today. He'd have to go to the soup kitchen again, and try to swallow the sop he'd made a show of bending into the owner's face when he was recruited for the pro-bending teams.

"I hear you got kicked off the Fire Ferret's team." That horrible voice sounded against the lockers and he tensed, looking sharply into Tahno's cruel beautiful face. Tahno had never been particularly mean to Hasook in the past, partially because he didn't think him serious competition but also perhaps because he sensed that Hasook didn't particularly have it out for him as well. This was not true – Hasook shared most of the athletes' convictions about exactly what Tahno was and where it was, exactly, that he could put that snide fabulously styled head.

"What do you want, Tahno?" he asked, sounding tired. He felt tired, suddenly. But Tahno merely smirked and leaned against the lockers, giving him an appraising sort of look.

"Nothing, just dropping by for a quick chat," he drawled in that incredibly smooth voice. There were times when Tahno's voice could slide over the body like a dark syrup, all honey and promise. That the promise didn't fade when he spoke to Hasook made him instinctively uneasy. No matter that the voice, which sounded as though it's owner had just finished doing terribly naughty things earlier, was owned by a pale impossible absolute _bastard _of a water bender – heat always rose deep within him, threatened to color his dusky cheeks and ears. Tahno drew closer, so that Hasook was eye-level with his slim chest, and lowered his voice dangerously. "So why'd they drop you?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't. But you look pathetic, sitting in the locker room, of all places," he shrugged. "I thought you'd want to talk it out. Discuss where you went wrong. Believe me, I can point out all your problem areas." Hasook stared hard at Tahno for a moment, trying to find his angle, but the other waterbender's eyes were a flat, unreadable grey.

"I'm not selling out my team, if that's what you're fishing for." For a moment, Hasook swore he could see a flash of sincerity in the other boy's normally apathetic eyes, only to be replaced by a slight frown wrinkling his delicate brow.

Tahno rolled his eyes and combed his fingers briefly through his hair in a long-suffering gesture. "Like I need to keep tabs on the Fire Ferrets. Pardon me for trying to help a no-good bender run out of luck."

After a moment of stunned silence the former Fire Ferret regained speech. "Spirits, you think you're being _nice. _Do the world a favor, will you, and never try to 'help anyone ever again. In fact, do the world one better and go jump into a volcano while you're at it."

"Well look at you, all in a tizzy." At that last word his voice dropped darkly, and the warmth pooled again. "I'm beginning to see why you got sacked. You need to work on that attitude of yours."

"I don't _have _an attitude, you prick! Now get out of my face." He stood up, fed up. Done. He moved to brush past Tahno but a languid hand stopped him, then with unexpected strength forced him against his – what _used _to be his – locker. He opened his mouth to ask what exactly Tahno thought he was doing before stopping short at their proximity, at the dangerous edge Tahno had on him, at the way he could smell Tahno's scent and the clove on his breath. It left him in a kind of daze, and, as if taking note, the other waterbender allowed a slow, wicked smirk to ghost over his face. "My my," his smile and his voice, barely a whisper, sent Hasook's heart beating and beating. "You _do _need an attitude adjustment," his eyes, hooded and heavy with kohl, looked Hasook up and down before locking gazes. "Amongst other things."

Hasook growled, feeling the unease become uncomfortable, feeling light-headed and dizzy and _trapped, _trapped in this body that refused to obey him and instead called out to the grey-eyed lunatic in ways he didn't quite understand.

Suddenly it became hard to look at Tahno – but equally hard to look away. He tried looking everywhere but the other athlete, his creamy pointed chin or his ridiculous laughable lush hair, the lockers, the ceiling, the lamp -anywhere but Tahno's eyes, which had gained an unsettling sharpness the longer their position held. A flash of amusement crossed his face, before he leant in even further, letting Hasook smell the clove on his breath, feel the heat of his voice. "You do know what you need, don't you?" He stepped back abruptly, and Hasook slumped forward with the sudden loss. Tahno noticed this too, it seemed, because he simply cocked his head slightly and looked back at him appraisingly. He was breathing heavier than was necessary, and he felt a single bead of sweat drip down the side of his face and into his collar.

"What?" he asked, and though he tried to put as much venom as he could into the word it came out breathless.

"Private lessons. I may have some use for you, if you're willing to be a little flexible." With an uncalled-for flourish, he spun on his heel and left. Hasook waited until the footsteps faded to finally sink down onto the ground. He stayed there a few minutes, contemplating, before finally turning back to his locker and unbuttoning the Fire Ferrets uniform he still wore.

He knew everyone's training schedule. Tahno would be easy enough to find – but whether for a sound beating or to actually take him up on his offer Hasook couldn't afford to be too sure. The pretty champion's face begged to be punched in, or...or something else, entirely, but with nothing – _nothing – _Hasook knew that even if he wasn't serious it was an offer too tempting to let stand.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Welp this is looking like its turning into way more than a one-shot. Hopefully I'll stay consistent and finish this one up. It should only go on for a few more chapters, really. Also rating heightened just for safety - mild language and sexual implications, so be warned. Nothing too explicit though - but featuring a dynamic between Tahno and Hasook that is really strange and out of character. Enjoy!**

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The head of the soup kitchen remembered him, and he walked down the streets hungry. It would take much, much more to break him – he _was _a street kid for years before being recruited – but holding down a job had spoiled him. He had grown used to regular meals and affordable city living. It was just as well his tiny flat in the lower quarter was being deemed a health and safety violation by the city inspectors, it wasn't like he could pay rent now. He looked down at his clothes – cheap but sturdy; nondescript but acceptable. He could pass as a midnight stroller in the park. He turned the next corner towards it and made sure to keep his head down. The very last thing he needed was an altercation with any of the triads and he was fairly certain that with the luck he was having today he wouldn't get out unscathed.

The park was as pleasant as he remembered, and he was even able to steal a few hours' sleep before a passing guardsman politely woke him just as the sun set. He thanked the man and made his way to a spot he was sure no-one knew of, behind a particularly uninviting crop of trees and tall grass that marked the border of the park and the beginning of the run-down suburban areas of the eastern quarter.

Which is why it surprised him to find Tahno, draped in women, sitting on the grassy knoll by a pond and making the water burst forth in elegant rippling patterns to the sound of feminine giggles. He narrowed his eyes briefly and tried stalking away, but it was too late. Tahno had caught sight of him. Waving away the girls dismissively, he sauntered towards him in his usual lazy way, his eyes suddenly sharpening in the way that so unsettled Hasook before. His hands fisted almost immediately, and his eye twitched slightly as he tried to stay in control. _No. I am NOT taking a trip down to Beifong's cage for Tahno. Not tonight. _

"Looking for me?" Tahno drawled. Out of his training uniform Tahno exuded the air of a panther-lion just after a meal: all sleek, curving lines and feline satisfaction. His hair was tied back today, and his face without the frame made him look more delicate, somehow. Like a china doll.

A bastard of a china doll. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm just taking a walk." He tried to walk past but once again, for some unknown reason, was held powerless by a single hand just ghosting on his chest.

"Go back to the club without me, ladies," he called out, never taking his eyes from Hasook's. "I have some unfinished business with Mr…Hasook, was it?" A glint of teeth at Hasook's reaction to his words, and as the sound of rustling skirts and put-out sighs faded silence overtook them.

"Did you think about my offer?" The hand hadn't left his chest, and his heart beat faster under it even as it seemed to burn through his skin.

"Yeah," he said skeptically, guardedly, trying not to make it sound like it was his only option right now.

"And…?" He was getting closer again. Closer than Hasook thought he could take. His heart jumped and Tahno's hand dropped, skimming Hasook's front lightly before leaving him entirely. He hoped the darkness concealed the heat that was rapidly rising to his face, and realized they were in a very, very private position. Tahno could do anything right now, and no one would know. No one would see.

For some reason the knowledge made his stomach tighten. "I'll do it," he said after a moment of deliberation. Tahno's smile grew wider but his eyes flashed when Hasook went on: "On the condition that you tell me what this is and what it's about." He searched Tahno's face, and for a moment the feline sleekness broke and he looked almost taken aback.

And then that damned pale elegant hand again, trying to trap him with its placating presence. He caught it, and Tahno made a small noise of surprise as his wrist was captured and held between them that ignited the coil in Hasook's stomach and he couldn't help a low growl of satisfaction at Tahno's discomfiture escape him. "Why are you targeting me and what do you want." It wasn't a question, and he tightened his grip.

But the other waterbender soon leant into the rough, unforgiving touch, using his other hand to make its way from Hasook's shoulder to his neck. Cradling it. Controlling it. "What do you want it to be?" Tahno asked, and his eyes lowered, sparked in answer to Hasook's own burning gaze. His head was lowered suddenly by fingers that slipped into his hair, and he could only close his eyes as Tahno leant up towards his neck before whispering, in his dark voice, "I"m sure the two of us can work out _something_ that should meet your satisfaction."

Breath, hot in his ear. Fingers in his hair, ghosting over his neck. There is too much heat between them, suddenly, and he feels a specific ache he can't bear. Tahno, his lips centimeters away from his cheek as he withdrew slowly, curved into that infernal smirk that begged to be…to be…

He let Tahno's wrist go with a sharp shove. "You're disgusting." The smirk grew wider.

"And you're breathless." He adjusted his sleeves and brushed off invisible dust. "Come to the training room tomorrow, in your gear." The moon shone down on them both as Tahno walked away, and Hasook stared at his lithe, retreating back until he finally collapsed onto the knoll himself. He hated that his body wasn't under his control around the other waterbender, hated the way he smugly knew his effect on Hasook and exploited it. And he didn't even answer Hasook's question. Bastard.

_Blood, dirt, ice. Silken sheets and a silken voice, crooning his name. Parted legs, pale as china. Taste, touch, feel. Burn. Pain: bittersweet. _His dreams would have shamed him, if he remembered them. But all he woke up to was a sense of loss.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: And the deplorable lack of Tahsook in this world compels me to post yet another chapter! In this installment, we see Hasook remaining suspicious and block-headed, while Tahno lays it on hilariously thick. Also, just as a quick aside, this is mainly from Hasook's point of view, so Tahno's extremely obvious pick-up lines and seductions are sort of lost on him until he FINALLY cottons on. Frankly this is just an excuse for fluff and contains like ZERO plot progression which will come in full next chapter. I know this is a little dragging but I just love ubertemptress!Tahno and painfullythick!Hasook too much! Enjoy!**

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He broke into his old locker and found his training gear. Even putting it on made him feel better. Like he belonged there or something. It felt like a beginning. With a renewed sense of purpose he stepped confidently into the training area.

Tahno was nowhere to be found. He narrowed his eyes. What more was he expecting? Especially from that pompous ass of a bender. He bent a few daggers of water at the wall and turned to leave only to find the other waterbender leaning against the door, clad in dark training gear of a much higher quality than Hasook's, and looking at him with cold amusement. "And here I thought the old watertribe pride would keep you on the streets," he said. He came towards him, but Hasook felt more comfortable in the training area. More alive. Tahno's peculiar brand of danger was still felt. But this was his arena, as it were, and he felt confident, somehow, in the heat that surged within him. Tahno merely got into a fighting stance that Hasook mirrored, and for a few moments they simply tested each other out, sending a quick wave here and a few whips there. Tahno moved like a flooding river, all crashing waves and a barrage of released energy. Hasook didn't work as hard as he'd thought to keep up; rather, his more fluid movements were, if not as flashy, at least effective. The intensity escalated and for a while Hasook lost himself to the joy of the fight, feeling the adrenaline flow within, feeling the water flow without. Tahno seemed pleased, at least until a water whip stung him cheekily on his back, after which his mouth set in a petulant frown that Hasook found himself wanting to see more of.

Tahno was stronger and more precise than Hasook would have given him credit for off the arena. His style seemed erratic at times, even frantic, but he somehow pulled it off with a cool sort of assurance that made Hasook think twice about the apparently random forms he threw together. He could see the advantage. Tahno was all unexpected kicks and surprising graceful arcs, and Hasook's own bending, while polished, did have to adjust to catch up to Tahno's barrage.  
At last they were in range of each other and with a swift drop kick – courtesy of Mako – Tahno was sprawled on the floor, undignified and panting. Hasook was soon on him, holding him in a grapple that allowed him to take hold of the slim wrist once more. There was a slight bruise forming on the white skin, and Hasook felt a pang of remorse (or pleasure?) at the sight of the mark. "I should heal this," he murmured awkwardly after holding Tahno's gaze for too long, but the boy below him shook his head.

"This? Oh, this is just a little love-mark, sweetheart." His heart leaped into his throat and he shuddered at the way Tahno's long porcelain neck was exposed. He could count the impossibly long lashes, see his reflection in the gray-blue eyes.. The mocking tone didn't incense as much as ignite him, and he knew, suddenly, that this was calculated, that every touch and sigh Tahno had given him was meant to wound in the most delicious way. They were both breathing heavily, and Hasook knew that it wasn't just due to the recent physical exertion. But still…this was _Tahno, _it still felt like a sick game, it still felt unreal. That he had the other waterbender at his mercy astounded him. That he felt equally preyed upon kept his grip firm and his muscles taut. Adrenaline flowed, within. But it was a different kind of adrenaline that thrilled and enthralled him. Tahno made a show of yawning before Hasook, embarrassed, scrambled off him. He got up slowly. "Yes, after a few lessons you'll be perfect," he seemed to muse to himself.

At this Hasook shook himself out of his daze and glared at him. "For the love of all the spirits just _tell me what is going on_."

"Oh, it's nothing you have to worry about. Think of it as a temporary position. A freelance gig, if you will. You'll do a little meeting, a little greeting, maybe some altercation settlements…"

"_Altercation settlements? _What, you want me to be a bodyguard?"

His chuckle was deep when Tahno replied, "Oh, please. A bodyguard is the last thing I need. Think of it more as a….bouncer. An enforcer, to use the triad term."

Mention of the triads had Hasook immediately back on his guard. "I'm not joining a triad, Tahno." Part of him still held out for a way back onto the team, and the strict sanction against triad members as athletes was enforced rather unpleasantly.

"Look," Tahno said, seeming to lose some of that smug patience. "You're not joining any triads. You're just going to be our sixth at the city banquet since Loni got sick and you may have to help to resolve some… problems after. You'll be compensated, of course."

Completely taken aback, Hasook said increduously, "All this just for some dinner? Are - are you asking me out on a…a _date?_" Heat coiled tightly, suddenly, at the slight blush that so delicately colored Tahno's high, pale cheeks. The contrast of color drew his eyes back to Tahno's wrist – marked, ever so slightly, by him. _Him. _It pleased him to no end to think of Tahno pulling his sleeve up to cover the rose blooms on his skin, trying to cover up the fact that he had been held vulnerable before another.

He was jerked out of his sudden reverie when Tahno himself seemed to regain his composure. "No, and if I was there would be _no _question in your mind about my intentions," he replied airily.

"Well you only had to ask," he replied, slightly teasing himself, testing the waters in this new game, feeling swollen with unbidden giddiness.

Tahno made a face. "Don't get cocky. This is a _job. _I am _paying you._" He got back into training position. "And don't get the wrong idea either. What we're doing, you'll be in for more than just dinner."

"Dinner and a show? I'm flattered." It wasn't as smooth as one of Tahno's lines, Hasook's never would be, but Tahno seemed pleased, and he felt as though he had passed some sort of test. Less timidity this round, more aggressive, more unexpected stings and more close shaves. Tahno seemed to ignore Hasook now. But he felt smug in Tahno's denial, felt his blood burn helplessly in a state of giddy want and desire, coveting Tahno's lips and his hair, relishing in the feel of his fingers cupping around the smooth skin of Tahno's neck, the waterbender gasping and raising his eyes to the heavens. It was glorious, seeing Tahno like this, under him, arching up to meet him on some instinct Hasook had yet to name. He let go of the choke-hold, and Tahno slumped back, wiping his mouth carelessly with a sleeve, glancing up at Hasook with lidded eyes.

And then he lunged, and to feel Tahno's nimble fingers descend upon his chin, forcing it down before trying to knee him, to be able to watch as his legs arced in a kick and to hear his breathing grow ever so imperceptibly heavy, gave Hasook only more pleasure, only more delight. For there was a playfulness in Tahno that he sorely missed, a playfulness that stirred within him an answering call, and he let himself succumb, finally, to the honest pleasure of touch and feel and sound. Tahno's panting growls, his little faces, his surprising demand and strength, his fluttering eyelashes, long and lush.

It was only after their third round that Tahno decided to let up. They were both breathing heavily, and Hasook felt restless. On fire. Full of purpose once he could do nothing with it but feel it course through him silently, pulsing with his need to act - to waterbend a tsunami or jump off the silk road bridge or something, something big and wondrous to match how big and wondrous it felt, _now, here_. The silence hung heavily between them now, as the air cleared of their sighs and snarls and breaths. "You'll do just fine," said Tahno distantly, and as Hasook looked over at him he realized how slim he actually was. Delicate looking, almost, belying the wiry muscle of a skilled waterbender. He had taken off most of his padding and underneath there was the promise of so much lean pale skin that Hasook felt his mouth parch, even as he looked down on his own, slightly heavier frame and kept his fingers from unhooking his own guards. It was sweltering.

He flinched when a towel hit him. "Go clean yourself up and then go to the tailor's just down the street. Say that I sent you and try to wear something acceptable. Be at the city hall at six. I won't wait up." And when he turned back to Hasook his lips quirked not so much in a smirk but a breathless sort of smile - just a flash - and then he was gone, striding down the corridors like a man who owned the world.

Hasook's lips twitched in a goofy smile of his own. Things were looking up. It was strange for Hasook to fall into any sort of luck, and that his benefactor should be _Tahno _of all people made him shake his head at the ridiculousness of it all.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Eyyyy chapter four you guys! In which Tahno clearly has a type, is fabulous, my headcanon for Hasook's neck kink is made obvious, and also some plot progression I guess? Ugh also I upped the story to M - mainly for safety but also because I'm not sure how explicit you can be at T D: Augh why is this crack pairing suddenly the focus of my life you guys you don't understand there is like zero Tahsook out there and for good reason but still...these are the reasons why I should just keep this stuff to tumblr. Although my Tahno/Tarrlok and Tahno/Iroh II and Tahno/Tarrlok/Iroh II/Hasook headcannons are even worse lbr. OK ENOUGH TALKING pls enjoy!

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He felt distinctly uncomfortable in the formal watertribe wear. He had asked for it specifically, since he hated the dandy fashions that were recently popular, and also because when he last had to show up to an event - Kihasa's sister's wedding - she had told him how great he looked in watertribe clothes. He adjusted his light parka and picked out a few strands of fur from his shoulder. Elegant people were lining up all around him and he felt even more out of place than usual. He kept his eyes fixed somewhere in the vicinity of the floor as he waited for Tahno.

When he finally came, he was dressed simply and darkly and sleekly, and his hair fluttered slightly in the breeze. He looked totally at home, and that made Hasook impossibly jealous. He looked down his pointed nose at Hasook's water-tribe wear. "I see you went native," he said carelessly. "Not a bad choice." he glared at the retreating waterbender's back, whispering away in midnight silk. This was definitely Tahno's element, and the way he worked the small groups of wealthy merchants and patrons made Hasook uneasy.

He had no idea what he was doing. A waiter came around with some rice wine but Hasook waved her away, too busy trying to stay comfortable and figure out what in all of Unga's underworld Tahno actually had planned. Tahno was drinking freely, he noticed, completely ignoring him, and the tips of his snowy ears bloomed in tandem with his cheeks and his neck. Tahno barely looked his way and Hasook found himself left largely to his own devices. He was able to make mild conversation with a few people, and from them found out that this was a gala held for the patrons of the pro-bending association of greater Republic City, whose existence was not unfamiliar to Hasook but whose activities had been held under scrutiny of late.

He was startled when an aristocratic-looking young woman handed him a glass of rice wine. "Might as well make yourself at home," she said in a bored voice, downing her own matching cup in seconds. "We're gonna be here for a while." They stood together for a few moments. Her eyes reflected the glint and glow of the paper lanterns strung all around them. He took a sip and blanched. The higher the quality, the more it seemed to burn.

"So...what's all this for, again?" he asked, when she didn't leave immediately. She turned to him sharply.

"You can't be serious. The gala is _the _fundraising event of the year - half the patrons here run the city! There's the state Magistrate talking to Nobleman Moru and his secretary," here she gestured to a tall fat man and a short, angry-looking lady, "and there's the head of Cabbage Corp giving Councilman Tarlok some kiwigrapes." She glanced back at him. "So don't act like you're _so _overbooked you can't remember what gala this is, newbie."

_Newbie? _"What-what makes you say that?" he managed, even as she put another glass in his hands.

"Well, for one thing you haven't asked me my name yet." Without waiting for a response she continued, "It's Tuya. And I haven't seen someone look so awkward and rough at these things since we first brought my brother." Her teeth flashed briefly as she smiled.

"Uh, okay, nice to meet you Tuya, I'm -"

"I didn't ask you to introduce yourself either, you know." He chanced a glance away from his reflection in the rice wine and noticed her smile broaden. "_Relax, _newbie. It was a joke."

"Ha ha."

"Look, I know you've probably heard some shady things about this thing, but you look like a waterbender, so you'll have a great time. Thank whoever let you crash." She smoothed the front of her crimson robe and took the glass back out from his grasp. "You haven't touched your drink," she admonished before emptying it much as she had done the first.

The first gong for the meal sounded. "Well, that's my cue." She began to drift away and he, clinging to her presence, began to follow. "I told you to relax. There's still half an hour before the banquet even starts, and yes, I know how dumb that sounds." She rolled her eyes and flashed her teeth again, then left him and stood near a tall dark man with piercing green eyes. He tracked her, a bastion of familiarity in the crowd, until he spotted dark silk once more. Tahno seemed intent on speaking to and flirting with as many people as he possibly could in the time they still had before the final dinner gong rang. He seemed to have forgotten entirely about Hasook's existence.

But when his gaze next slid over to Hasook, at last, it was filled with barely-concealed heat and muddled with drink. Had the idiot gotten drunk _already_? It had only been an hour! He disengaged himself from a too-young, too-eager girl, and began taking slightly unsteady steps towards him. His fingers clenched. Tahno's hair was already unruly, having been combed through nonchalantly too many times. He had unbuttoned his tall wide collar in the heat, and sauntered towards Hasook with the concentration and undivided focus of the truly drunk. He came close, in the way Hasook had become so used to, and whispered into his neck, "you looked like you were having a good time with...Tuna, was it? Well. After dinner, I'll show you a better one." His breath smelled of rice wine and pomegranates. He pulled away and licked his lips, made rosy with heat.

A brief fantasy ripped through him, with Tahno's white legs thrown carelessly over his own dark shoulders, his long neck a mess of nips and bites, his sweet, dark voice crying out in abandon and desperation. It was gone as suddenly as it came, and it left Hasook burning even as Tahno brushed past him and called to someone behind them_._ Spirits, this waterbending _bastard_. He teased more than the dancing girls down at Baki's club. He rendered Hasook breathless with a look, motionless with a touch. Desperate with a single word uttered in that dark honey voice. Spirits, it was so easy for Tahno to toy with him.

And he was _loving _it.

He sat next to Tahno at the banquet, fixing his gaze on the other waterbender to guide his actions. There didn't seem to be much to guide, but this formal event was definitely nowhere near Hasook's comfort level and he knew he stuck out like a sore thumb. But the food was excellent, and Hasook busied himself with trying to stuff as much as he could down his throat while maintaining a semblance of propriety. Hayal Moru stood up somewhere between the third or fourth course, and made some speeches about how pleased he was about the progress being made in his Bending Academy. Then he was followed by the dark, striking green-eyed warrior man Tuya sat next to. When he spoke, Hasook's rice fell from his chopsticks.

"We are all here for one thing and one thing only," he said, his green eyes looking faraway. "And that is to ensure that our talented benders are able to continue rendering their services to the city and the world at large. They give the…_non_benders… _hope, _they give us revenue, they work and train hard every day to ensure that the ancient gift of bending is available to the bereft masses. It is a gift we must help to continue and spread well beyond the walls of this city." There was a polite round of applause at this, but something about the short speech struck Hasook as being fundamentally wrong...if only he could put his finger on it... The quiet voice continued, silencing the hall with simple words. "Our bending sons and daughters reserve the right to exercise their gifts - gifts not available to all but only to the blessed few. We cannot allow these gifts to go to waste. There are those, the giftless, the _lesser, _who see our glory and want it for their own, and will not stop until the benders are broken and made to be like them. They would take away everything. But I assure you. The nonbending lunatics will be crushed, and their pleas for _equality _and their little straw leader will _burn. _Which is why I am holding this year's banquet in Councilman Tarrlok's honor." Next to him, he heard the clatter of Tahno's chopstick hitting the china. Tarrlok stepped up and looked at everyone through dark eyes. His handsome face was glowing in the lamplight, and his hair was coiffed to perfection.

"Thank you, Gao," he said with an affable smile, though his eyes lost none of their sharpness. "While I admire Gao's...enthusiasm, I must admit that I can't fully agree." Hasook relaxed a bit - the good Councilman's admission made this feel more like a gala and less like one of those bizarre, bending-element-worshipping cults he'd heard rumors about. Tarrlok smiled as the dark man - Gao - glared up at him. "Amon is the true threat here, and I wouldn't be speaking in jest if I said that if Amon and his pretense of equality succeeds, we would all feel the flat of his boot - bender and non-bender alike. I won't lie: I won't be able to take him down on my own. Which is why I proposed to have the Avatar on my task force." There was another polite round of applause, and Hasook found himself clapping along for lack of any other response. Tarrlok's beads glinted in the light and his large square hands adjusted his lapels. "If there are any questions or inquiries, please feel free to notify my secretary. I look forward to the next bending match - I hear the Fire Ferrets have really picked up their game." He heard Tahno's snigger next to him and felt the tips of his ears burn. Knowing he'd been summarily replaced, by the Avatar, of all people, still stung more than he felt comfortable letting on.

Tarrlok appraised the dinner guests before sitting down, allowing his glance to sweep down the long table. His gaze rested for a moment in Hasook's vicinity before a faint smile graced his lips and moved on, laughing with the city magistrates near him. Hasook thought his ears would burn off from the embarrassment - it seemed as though he noticed the lone ex-Fire Ferret at the table.

After dinner, Tahno kept him mysteriously close, taking his arm at some times and crowding him at others. The heat of his presence was not unwelcome but the twist in his stomach was. Tahno was slowly herding him to a more secluded corner, well in sight of the guests of honor but out of the way enough to be intimate. He felt his ears and chest heat with the blush of the mortification and the gratification of Tahno's rather public attentions. Finally, just as Hasook was going to shove him out of his personal space Tahno leaned in again, displaying his neck invitingly and murmuring to Tahno a voice pitched to sinful perfection, "Go ahead. Do it."

"Wha- wha- do what?" Hasook sputtered, trying to lean away from Tahno, trying not to drown in the heat.

That horrible smirking smile. "Cute, acting like you haven't wanted to all night. I can practically _smell _it on you."

His eyes widened as Tahno cast him a bored-looking glance.

Tahno sighed. "Fine, if you're going to be that way...I'll just do it myself." And he leaned in, tightening his grip on Hasook's shoulder. He smiled lightly as Hasook licked his lips on instinct. "See, you do know what I mean," he whispered, before lightly brushing his lips against Hasook's own. His lips tingled at the contact, and his nose was filled with the scent of Tahno - clove and rice wine and something else, something vaguely flowery. He felt the blush start in his chest, grateful it wouldn't show in the dim light of the lamps, even more grateful they were in at least some privacy. Tahno kissed him again, and it was as though the kiss awoke him from some heady slumber, and he came alive under those lips and responded in turn, not as precise as Tahno but enthusiastic, filled with more fervor. His arms came up and held Tahno close, the vision of Tahno's pale bared skin dancing behind his closed eyes, the feel of lean wiry muscle igniting a fire deep and low in him. He growled in satisfaction when Tahno's lips opened easily for him, but Tahno's answering moan was obscene and loud, breaking Hasook out from under his spell. Hasook broke their embrace hurriedly, and looked around only to see Gao and Tarrlok looking over in their direction. Wiping his mouth with embarrassment, he glanced over to look at Tahno, that infuriatingly delicate blush dusting over his cheeks, his lips looking swollen and red in the lamplight. There were footsteps from behind, and Councilman Tarrlok came up to them, a small smile playing on the corners of his mouth.

"I trust everything is alright here?" He said in his slick voice, clapping Hasook on the back with one of his large hands - hard - and grasping the back of Tahno's neck with the other, smiling between the two of them. Hasook couldn't bear to look at the Councilman, but Tahno made a small noise that would have been a whimper from anyone else and Tarrlok stayed with them. "I'm so glad two of Republic City's own rising stars were able to make it. Glad to meet you." His voice was jolly and affable, but underneath there was a hard sharpness, and Hasook felt a distant mistrust instantly.

Tarrlok turned his head towards Tahno, so Hasook could only see his handsome profile. "It's good to see you again, Tahno. Tell me, are you still training as hard as ever?" Tahno looked distinctly uncomfortable in Tarrlok's familiar grip, and squirmed a bit before muttering a response. "Good, good. Don't train yourselves too hard -" here he turned back to Hasook and addressed him as well. "It would be a shame to have you all bruised and broken up before the tournament, eh?" He left them, and Hasook could only look at Tahno, who still carried an irresistible blush and was rubbing his neck where Tarrlok had touched him.

Tahno was still rubbing his neck by the time the banquet was over. Hasook had asked him, just after Tarrlok had left, what had just even _happened, _but Tahno ignored him and kept his distance again. Bewildered, Hasook had resigned himself to grazing the buffet and filling himself for whatever Tahno had planned for them afterwards. His heart still thundered from the kiss, but Tahno's distance was confusing. Their kiss was amazing - why was he still playing hard to get? At last, he gave in, and decided to go along with Tahno's little game. _Diva, _he thought affectionately, even as he finished eating and walked over to where the other boy was sitting, his long neck on display as he rolled his head uncomfortably.

"Let me see it."

"What?"

"Your neck. Let me see it. You've been rubbing it since after dinner."

"No - it's nothing. Worry about your own neck." Hasook chuckled at this and leant in to kiss Tahno's jawline playfully. But Tahno swatted him away and sent him a warning glare.

It stung, but Hasook persisted. "Don't be a jerk, Tahno. Just let me see - " He took Tahno's wrist - " – for," He gripped Tahno's hair - " - a minute -" He was about to turn the back of Tahno's neck towards him as gently as he could when Tahno swiftly disengaged himself, wincing.

"I said it's nothing," Tahno growled. "Stop acting like a mother turtleduck. It's unattractive." His eyes softened when he looked back at Hasook, though. "Don't worry about it," he said again, touching Hasook's shoulder briefly before drifting towards a gaggle of girls and boys. "Meet me by the cook's entrance after this is over. I did promise you dinner _and _a show, after all."


End file.
